Twist Tie
by LileyKigoSpashleyRizzslesLover
Summary: Continuation of season one's finale: "When The Gun Goes Bang, Bang, Bang". Jane/Maura. Oneshot.


A/N: I do not own Rizzoli and Isles. I saw last night's show and immediately knew I needed to make my own ending for the season. I apologize if it is out of character as I was very tired when I wrote this. I hope you all like it.

XXXXX

"Shoot him! Just shoot him!" Jane screamed as pretty much all of Boston PD stood across the street, waiting for a chance to take a shot. Bobby had his hold too tight. There was no opening. Jane decided to make her own.

She twisted around, trying to gain possession of the gun.

The trigger was pulled.

Blood sprayed from the exit wound on Bobby's back. Maura ran, seemingly in super-slow-mo, towards the fallen two.

"Jane!" She yelled. Her chest was tight. She couldn't breathe. She knew this was the worst moment of her life so far. It far exceeded finding out her brother was on her autopsy table and when her biological father kidnapped her that same day. This was way worse. Jane could be… Maura blinked back tears and focused on the scene in front of her.

Jane was on the ground, eyes closed, pressed up against Bobby. He was not breathing, which made sense since he was probably dead. Maura didn't care about him right now. She knelt down and put two fingers on the pulse point of Jane's neck. She couldn't feel a pulse; her hands were shaking too much to tell if there even was one.

Drops of water appeared on Jane's face. Maura blinked and bigger drops fell from her eyes. She bent down to listen for signs of breathing but her own breathing was too labored. It was as if she herself got shot. She didn't understand what was going on with her.

She looked down and saw something she hoped she wouldn't see. An entrance wound in Jane's side paired with massive amounts of blood surrounding it. Apparently Jane shot herself just to shoot him. Maura felt like slapping the brunette. That was so like Jane: doing anything to stop a perpetrator, even if it causes herself harm.

She snapped back to reality when she was pushed out of the way by paramedics. Her vision was cloudy and she tried to speak but no words were coming out.

"You okay, miss?" A paramedic asked.

She nodded her head but pointed toward the building with a worried look on her face. "But… Frankie."

"Somebody's in there?" He checked behind him to make sure they didn't need his help with Jane and Bobby. "Lead the way."

She did. They went through the back entrance of the autopsy room because it was faster and it was the easiest way to get the stretcher through. "He's in here." She said, pointing at the table they left him on when Jane got forced out of the room. Maura knew she should have stayed with Frankie but there was… something that forced her into making sure Jane was okay. She took in a sharp breath when she recalled Jane lying on the sidewalk. It troubled her to not know whether her dearest friend was alive or not.

The paramedic rushed over to Frankie. "Man, he's in bad shape." He then pointed to the tubes coming out of his side. "Who did _this_?"

"I did." Maura said in a small voice, uncharacteristic of her. "There was nothing else I could do. He would have died if I didn't –"

"No, I didn't mean it like that! Just… nice work." He said as he checked Frankie's vitals.

"Thanks."

"You a doctor?" He looked back at her.

"Medical examiner."

"Can you help me get him on here?" He pointed to Frankie and then to the stretcher. Maura nodded her head as she went over to help.

"Grab his legs. Ready? On three. One, two, _three_." His voice showed signs of strain as he lifted up Frankie's torso, careful to not jostle him too much.

After Frankie got settled on the stretcher they started to wheel him out. Maura stayed at Frankie's side as the paramedic pushed. His eyes opened.

"M- Maura?" He said weakly.

"Frankie! You're doing fine, okay? We're going to get you to a hospital!" Maura said in a rush of words. She grabbed his hand for support. Both for him and herself.

"Where's Jane?" He was barely able to whisper out, still having trouble breathing.

Maura tried to talk but she could only shake her head as her eyebrows were furrowed.

"Is she-?"

"I don't know, Frankie. I don't know. I wish I knew but… I don't know." Maura was extremely distressed. That was the most times she has said those words in her life but she hardly took notice.

"She can't be. It's Jane. She just – " Frankie stopped midsentence as he was being put into the ambulance. "Maura, listen to me." She got closer to him. The paramedic was about to close the door but Frankie signaled him to hold on. He looked into Maura's eyes. "You gotta tell her." He said before putting his head back down as the paramedic closed the door.

Tell her? The words barely had time to sink in before she took off running to the front of the building.

When she got there Jane was gone. Police tape was beginning to be put up around the site. She looked around frantically for any sign of Jane but there were no more ambulances around. Her heart stopped as she saw a couple of body bags decorating the front sidewalk.

"Maura!" Someone yelled behind her. Her head was spinning so much she couldn't even recognize the voice. A hand touched her shoulder. She turned around to see Korsak. "What are you still doing here? Didn't you go to the hospital with Frankie?"

"No… I- where's Jane?" Maura was scared and it showed. She was sweating bullets and her mouth was dry. Her skin was pale but her face was flushed. Her whole body was shaking.

"Jesus, Maura. You okay?" His voice was full of concern.

"WHERE'S JANE?" Maura demanded, raising her voice.

"Probably at the hospital." He stated nonchalantly. "Did Bobby hurt you? You don't look so good."

"I need to find Jane." She took off towards the building in search of her car. She stopped when she remembered she rode with Jane when they left the gym. She sighed in frustration and then turned back to Korsak. "Take me to her."

"Look, I want to see her as much as you do but I have to help out here. I have to give my statement before I can even-"

"Forget about the damn statement!" Maura said in a frenzy. "The woman I love just got carted off somewhere and I don't even know if she's alive! You are taking me to the hospital!"

Korsak just nodded, surprised at the usually calm doctor's passionate demeanor. This was not a side to Maura most have seen. He doubted this was a side she has ever even let out till now.

They walked to his car. There was no more glass left on any of the windows or windshields but, luckily, none of the tires were shot. They opened their doors and tried to move most of the glass off of their seats. When they finally sat down and shut their doors Korsak sped off towards the hospital.

The ride there was filled with the sounds of tire screeching as Korsak tried to get to the hospital as quickly as he could. He was slightly afraid of _this_ Maura; funny considering he isn't afraid of the Maura that has both her hands plunged into a dead body. They arrived in record time. Korsak skidded to a stop at the drop-off zone just long enough for Maura to jump out of the car. He continued on to look for a place to park.

"Where is she!" Maura ran up to the front desk and slammed her hands on the counter. The woman behind it jumped in surprise and then glared at the blonde.

"I'm sorry, ma'am but I refuse to answer to that tone of v-"

"Excuse me?" Someone said, interrupting them. Maura looked to her right to see the paramedic from earlier. "Doctor…?" He looked at Maura expectedly.

"Isles."

"Right! Doctor Isles, that Frankie Rizzoli that we brought in-"

"Is he okay?"

"He's in surgery. He kept mumbling something about 'Maura and Jane', though. I don't know if that is important in the investigation or…"

"I'm Maura. Jane is… well I'm looking for her right now. She's his sister."

"Wait, Jane Rizzoli?" The nurse from behind the counter rejoined the conversation as she looked through some papers. "She was wheeled in here a little while ago."

"How is she?" Maura asked, still frantic but she was trying to tone it down a bit.

"She didn't look good, but- wait… are you a family member?"

Maura opened her mouth and then closed it. She knew that as soon as she said 'no' she wouldn't be able to find out anything until the Rizzoli's show up. But then again, she couldn't lie.

"Maura! Any info on Jane?" Korsak ran through the front automatic doors and towards the two standing at the front desk.

"I was just-" Maura pointed at the nurse to indicate that she was trying.

"Look, I'm sorry but I can't say anything unless you're related to the patient."

Korsak thought on his feet. "Maura, you didn't tell her?"

Maura looked over at the man in confusion.

He directed his words at the nurse. "This here is Dr. Maura Isles, Jane Rizzoli's fiancé."

All three heads twisted to look at Korsak in surprise. Sure this was Massachusetts, the first state to allow gays to marry, but it was still a shock to them, mostly to the paramedic who was just about ready to ask Maura out. That was totally out the window. He just decided to play the nice guy.

"Congratulations, Dr. Isles." He finally said after the shock wore away.

"Um… thanks?" Maura was still in a state of frenzy and confusion. She just wanted to know if Jane was okay.

"Her fiancé?" the nurse looked Maura up and down. "Alright, then. Do you allow _him_ to hear this as well?" The nurse pointed at Korsak. The paramedic took this as his cue to leave.

"Yes."

She got up from her seat, carrying papers and walked around the desk. She led them to a waiting area through another door, one that is reserved for families.

"Please take a seat."

They did.

"Let me see here." She scanned the page with her finger. About halfway through the page she stopped. "Hmm… Jane Rizzoli was brought into surgery about fifteen minutes ago. When she was wheeled in I overheard the paramedics and the doctors talking. They mentioned a fifty percent chance of survival."

That was all Maura needed to hear before she finally lost it. She broke down and collapsed onto Korsak's shoulder, soaking his shirt through with tears.

"I'm sorry." The nurse said genuinely. "As soon as I hear more I will let you know. I'm Wendy if you need anything and there's a coffee pot around the corner that you can help yourselves to."

Korsak just nodded his head in thanks towards Wendy. When she left the room he pulled Maura in closer and let her cry it out.

She managed to get her emotions under control about five minutes later and pulled back. Her mascara was runny and her eyes were red and puffy. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize. I'm surprised you didn't do that sooner."

"I was trying to stay strong." Maura looked around and realized something was missing. "We should probably call Jane's parents." She wiped a stray tear from her cheek.

Korsak pulled out his cell phone and then offered it to her. "You should probably do it. They know you better."

Maura nodded. She dialed Angela Rizzoli's cell phone. She answered in two rings. "Hi, Angela. I'm sorry if I'm interrupting anything but you should know that Jane and Frankie are at the hospital right now." She paused and let Angela speak. "Yeah, that's the one… Okay, I'll see you soon. Bye." Maura closed the phone and gave it back to Korsak. She didn't even attempt to converse with him, she just sat there in silence thinking about the day's horrible events.

XXXXX

"Where are they? Where are my children?" Angela demanded, walking up to the front desk. Frank followed behind her.

Wendy rolled her eyes. She hated when the patient's families got demanding. She figured that she was here for the Rizzoli patients but she had to ask. "Who are you looking for?"

"Jane and Frankie Rizzoli!" Angela looked as though she had just got done crying and was about to start round two.

"They are still in surgery, but Jane's fiancé and her friend is here."

This was new to the both of them. Before she could even ask, the nurse directed the two towards the room that Maura and Korsak were in. She said the same spiel about the coffee before getting back to her desk.

Maura stood up and walked over to hug Angela. Korsak stood and shook Frank's hand. He put his other hand on the man's shoulder in sympathy.

They walked over to the chairs. Frank and Angela sat across from Korsak and Maura. They sat in silence, each one of them full of anxiety and fear for what might happen next.

Angela perked up, remembering something. "The nurse said something about Janey's fiancé being here. Where is he?" She looked around the room to make sure she didn't miss him.

"He is me, apparently." Maura said. She glanced at Korsak, hoping he could explain.

"I'm sorry but I couldn't think of any other way to find out how she was doing."

"You could have told them _you _were Jane's fiancé." Maura wasn't upset at the thought of being seen as Jane's fiancé, in fact she felt surprisingly… proud.

"I could have but… let's face it, Maura, one day you actually _are_ going to be Jane's fiancé." He said it bluntly. He sees the way the two act around each other every day and he was getting tired of waiting for them to finally clue in.

"What?" Maura couldn't believe what she was hearing. How could he think she was in love with her best friend?

"You said it yourself, remember? 'The woman I love just got carted off somewhere'." He repeated what Maura had said not too long before.

It hit her. She _did_ say that, didn't she? Well, that would certainly explain why Jane's injury affected her far more than anything else had before. She felt more fear and anxiety towards this situation than she had ever felt back when she was suffering from anthropophobia.

"Did you really say that, Maura?" Angela leaned forward, hoping to at least learn of a possible love interest for her daughter.

"Yes… I did." Maura hesitated.

"So you love my daughter?" Angela asked.

"Yes. I'm in love with Jane Rizzoli." Maura said, this time with no hesitation as she finally admitted it to everyone around her and herself.

"Yay!" Angela managed to find something to be happy about in a building filled to the brim with grief. "You two better have grandkids!"

"Actually, there has been some recent research that suggests that one day we may be able to create a child with just two eggs, no sperm needed. You see, they used mice and in one case one of the offspring actually lived to adulthood and had children of its own. It was a fascinating article that also proposed that –"

"Hey! Anyone want coffee?" Korsak interrupted Maura. He stood up, about to walk over to the coffee pot.

She realized what she was doing and silently admonished herself. "I'd love some." She got up to help get Angela and Frank's coffee's as well, since they also said they wanted some. "Sorry about that. Sometimes I don't know when to stop talking. I guess remembering random facts is a way that I can better cope with this."

"And you wouldn't be you without it." Korsak smiled at her. He filled two cups with coffee and handed them to Maura. "But you might want to tone it down for their sake." He nodded towards the other two in the room.

They passed out the coffee and sat in silence again for another half hour. Then, without warning, the door opened.

"Rizzoli?" The doctor in blood stained scrubs asked.

"Yes?" Angela asked.

"Uh… Frankie is going to be fine. He needs a little bed rest so we're going to keep him here until we're sure he's good to go."

Maura waited in agonizing suspense for him to say something about Jane.

"There was a lot of internal bleeding but, thanks to someone's quick thinking, he managed to pull through."

"Who's 'quick thinking?'" Angela asked.

"I don't actually know. When he was brought in he already had some tubes going to his lungs to help him breathe. I think the paramedics said something about the medical examiner doing that but I'm not too sure."

Angela had tears in her eyes as she looked over at Maura. This girl was a lifesaver in more ways than one. "What about Jane?" Angela asked.

"She's still in surgery. There was a lot of tissue damage. I was just on my way to go help. So if you don't have anymore questions I need to -" He pointed at the door, indicating his need to leave.

"Of course," Angela said. "Go."

The doctor left.

Angela stood up and wrapped Maura in hug. "You saved my baby boy's life." She said, her voice cracking with emotion as tears rolled down her face. "How can I ever thank you?"

Maura returned the hug in earnest. "You've done enough already, I mean you brought Jane into this world and you raised her to be who she is today. Without you, I never would have been so lucky to have met her."

Angela pulled back and looked into Maura's eyes. "You really do love her, don't you?" She didn't actually think Maura didn't love Jane, she just wanted to hear it again.

"Yes, I do." Was all Maura could say.

"She definitely does." Korsak joined in. "I mean you either have to be in love or be crazy to do what she did."

"What did she do?" Angela turned to Korsak, intrigued.

"She ran towards Jane and Bobby when he still had her held hostage with absolutely no thought to her own safety. I mean, what the hell were you thinking?" Korsak directed the last part towards Maura.

She tried to recall that part of the day. "I don't think I was thinking… or I don't remember what I was thinking. All I knew was that Jane was going to die if someone didn't do something and I knew I couldn't live without her."

Angela wrapped Maura in a hug again. Grateful the M.E. was in their lives.

XXXXX

Jane opened her eyes. There was a curtain surrounding her bed and it felt like her skin was on fire. She shifted and then winced. "Oww." She tried to recall what happened after she pulled the trigger but all she remembered was darkness. Wait… something came back to her. She remembered looking up from her spot on the ground and seeing someone running towards her. She could have sworn it was an angel.

"Jane, you awake?"

A voice interrupted her thoughts. "Frankie?" She answered back. "Where are you?"

"I'm on the other side of the curtain. To your left."

Jane reached over and tugged at the curtain. This motion caused her side to explode with pain but she kept at it. She wanted to see for herself that her brother was still alive and, after a few tugs, she managed to pull it back. "Frankie!" She smiled at him. "How're you feelin'?"

"I'm good. I'm okay. But… what happened after he dragged you outta there?"

"He held me hostage so that he could try and escape without getting shot at by the police."

"So he got away?"

"No. I shot him."

"I thought you didn't have a gun."

"I used his."

"So then why are you…?" He gestured to her in a hospital bed.

"Because I had to shoot myself to shoot him." She said as if it was the most normal thing in the world to do.

"You-?" He looked at her in disbelief. "Wow, Sis, you really are crazy." He shook his head. "So… did Maura tell you?"

"Tell me what? I haven't seen her since this whole thing started. Is she okay?" Jane was worried. What if Maura didn't make it through? What if one of Bobby's cronies got to her?

"She's fine." Frankie quelled her fears. "I just hoped at least something good would have come out of this whole thing."

"Good? Like what?" Jane was clueless.

"Nevermind."

No, now Jane wanted to know. "Frankie, I swear to God, if you don't tell me I'll-"

"Ah, good. You're awake." A doctor appeared and saved Frankie from any threats from his older sister. "How are you feeling?"

Jane looked up at him. "Uh… it hurts when I move."

"That's normal. After all, you just got shot."

"Right." She rolled her eyes at him.

"Do you need anything?"

"Maura." It came out of her mouth without her even thinking.

"I'm sorry, more what?"

"No, she said 'Maura', doc. As in Maura Isles." Frankie told him.

"Ah, yes. I'm sorry Miss Rizzoli but you're not in a stable enough condition to be seeing anyone right now. But I'll go and tell your fiancé that you are okay." He left in the direction of the waiting room.

"I'm sorry… did he just say 'fiancé'?" Saying she was surprised was putting it lightly. "Did we just get transported to the set of 'While You Were Sleeping'? Or am I suffering from amnesia?" She asked more to herself but it was loud enough for Frankie to hear.

"I dunno, Sis. But if you are engaged to Maura you certainly didn't tell me about it."

"Wait… why would you say Maura?"

"Who else would it be?" He saw the look on his sister's face. "Don't tell me you don't know…"

"No, I don't know, Frankie. Why don't you tell me?" Jane was getting a little agitated at her brother but it probably had to do more with the pain she was in than anything else.

"God, open your eyes, Jane! It's obvious you two are in love with each other! Why don't you tell her already?"

"I'm not in love with her." She was confused. Why would her brother say something like that?

"Sure you're not." He didn't believe her. "But anyway, the doctor did refer to Maura as your fiancé so she must have told him that."

"That's insane, Frankie. Maura can't lie."

"I don't know what to tell you, Sis. Just think about it. It'll click with you. Hopefully." Frankie laid his head down on the pillow and shut his eyes. Today took a mighty toll on him and all he wanted to do was sleep.

Jane looked over at him, frustrated. There was no way Maura even could lie to people without making it obvious that she was lying. The only way for this to make any sense was that she really _was_ engaged to Maura.

Jane wracked her brain. She was certain she didn't have amnesia. She remembered lots of moments with Maura over the past months they've known each other. She remembered this morning and how Maura was checking out some guy at the gym. Whoa…wait… if they were supposed to be engaged, how could Maura so openly ogle some guy? And if they weren't engaged why was she feeling such intense jealousy and anger towards the guy?

At any rate she was tired. She tried to keep her brain going long enough to come up with an answer but she was spent. She fell asleep thinking about Maura.

XXXXX

The doctor reentered the waiting room.

"How is she?" Maura jumped up and demanded before she could stop herself.

"Surgery was a success and she's stable, though it's going to be a while before any of you can visit her. We're transporting Frankie to a recovery room now so if you'll come with me, you can see him."

They followed him through the halls until they came to a stop in front of a door. The doctor opened it and let them in first before closing the door behind them.

Frankie was asleep. He was connected to machines that monitored him but, Maura noted to herself, it didn't seem as though he need the aid of a machine to stay alive. That was good news.

The doctor talked to them briefly about Frankie before leaving to attend to some other responsibilities.

They all pulled up a seat near the bed. Angela and Maura sat on Frankie's right while Korsak and Frank took the other side of the bed. Because they didn't want to wake him they refrained from any kind of talk. Frankie opened his eyes a couple times but fell right back to sleep. About an hour after being wheeled in there Frankie woke up.

"Hey Ma, Maura." His head was tilted to the right so he didn't see the other two. "Where's Pop?"

"I'm over here, son."

Frankie moved his head. "Hey Pop, Korsak." Frank patted his son's hand and Korsak nodded his head in greeting.

Frankie surveyed the room again. "Wasn't Tommy supposed to come home today?"

Angela shook her head. "He decided to stay with some friends he met in prison." She tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice but wasn't very successful.

Frankie shook his head. "I told you, Ma. He's not gonna change."

"Let's not talk about this, okay? You're upsetting your mother more than she already is." Frank spoke up.

"Sorry, Ma." He put his hand on hers. "Is Jane in one of these rooms too?"

"No… they said she's still-" Angela started.

"Wait… How do you know Jane is here?" Maura interrupted.

"Our beds were right next to each other when we were recovering after surgery. Which reminds me, how come the doctor referred to you as Jane's fiancé?" He asked Maura.

Maura stammered. "Well Korsak…" She trailed off looking at Korsak hoping he'd finish.

He did. "I told people that so we could find out what happened to Jane."

"So you two aren't really engaged?" Frankie sensed he wasn't getting the whole story.

"No." Maura said.

"Oh." Frankie was disappointed. He thought his sister finally found the one she was supposed to be with for the rest of her life. He wished that was true. She certainly deserved it.

"Oh but don't worry, Frankie." Angela saw the troubled look on her son's face. "Maura is in love with Jane!"

"So _you_ acknowledge it." He seemed happy about that.

"What do you mean by that?" Maura asked.

"Jane's still in denial about her feelings for you. I was talking to her earlier and she seemed to think I was crazy when I mentioned it."

Maura sunk a little in her chair. Sure Jane could be in denial but… what if she didn't actually return the feelings. She didn't think she'd ever find anyone that she would want to be with if she couldn't spend the rest of her life with Jane.

The door opened. The doctor was back. "We brought Jane to a recovery room. It's right across the hall if any of you wanted to go in there. She's asleep right now, though."

"Thank you." Angela said. The doctor left. "You should go to her, Maura."

"Don't you want to see her?"

"I do but I think it's more important she sees you first. You need to tell her. After what happened today I'm sure she'll want to know."

"But Frankie just said-"

"I also told her to think about it. She's probably already sorted through her feelings by now." Frankie interrupted.

Angela put a hand on Maura's shoulder. "You should go."

Maura nodded and then left the room. She crossed the hall and opened the door in front of her. When she saw Jane she was surprised to see how pale she was. She looked absolutely exhausted even though she was asleep. She noticed, with a sigh of relief, that the machines connected to her were only for monitoring purposes, just like with Frankie. Maura grabbed a chair from the corner of the room and sat on Jane's right side close to her head. She stared down at the sleeping face of her best friend and couldn't hold back the tears any longer. She scanned the body before her but she was not able to see much because of the blanket so she just decided to take Jane's scarred hand into her own. She moved her thumb along the scar until Jane woke up a few minutes later.

"M- Maura?" Jane said weakly. She blinked her eyes a few times when she thought she saw the angel again.

"Jane." Maura's voice cracked. "How are you feeling?"

"A little sore but okay." She could hardly focus on anything other than the tingling sensation in her hand. It felt so… wonderful.

Maura smiled. "Good. I… I don't know what I would have done if anything were to happen to you."

"Probably continue on like normal."

"Jane, don't say that! I'm serious. If you were to die, I would…"

"Probably do the autopsy."

"No, Jane. I wouldn't be able to."

"Really? Huh, I always figured you would one day."

Maura glared at Jane for even suggesting such a thing. "What makes you think you will die before I will?"

"Uh… probably because I'm a cop and my job is a bit more dangerous than yours. And besides, I don't want to think about what life would be like if you were to die first. That'd be just… wrong."

"Jane." Maura whined. "Can we not talk about death right now?" She stilled her thumb briefly before starting rubbing Jane's hand again.

"Sorry." Jane almost gasped when she realized that wonderful feeling was being caused by Maura. Maybe Frankie was right. Wait a minute… speaking of Frankie… "Hey, Maura?"

"Yeah?"

"I was talkin to Frankie earlier and he said something about you needing to tell me something…"

"Oh, that. Um…" Maura was hesitant. She wasn't sure how Jane would take the news.

Jane sensed Maura's uncomfort. She didn't want to force her to say anything. "You know what? Nevermind… I'm sure he was probably a little loopy from the morphine." Jane forced a laugh but then realized that was a bad idea. "Ow."

"Your parents and Korsak are across the hall. Do you want me to go tell them you are awake?"

Jane thought for a second. "Can you just sit with me for a little while longer before you do that?"

"Of course, Jane."

The room was silent, sans the whirling noises of the machines and the sound of a stretcher rolling past the room every now and then. Jane thought about her feelings towards Maura. She really didn't know why she never realized it sooner. But then again, nothing makes you reevaluate your life quite as much as a near death experience. Jane decided to take a chance. She steeled her nerves and took a quivering breathe before speaking.

"So you want to make it official?" She asked seemingly out of the blue.

"Make whatofficial?"

Jane's face beamed at the blonde next to her. "You wanna be my fiancé for real?"

"What?" Maura asked, not sure if she heard her right.

"Marry me, Maura." Her tone was sincere and full of love, matching the raw passion in her eyes.

"Is that you or the morphine talking?"

"It's me. I guess I've wanted to ask you that for a while, it just took me some time to realize it. I guess now's a good a time as any seeing as you're already going around telling everyone you're my fiancé."

"That was Korsak!"

"Oh. So that's a no?"

"Of course not, Jane. But aren't you a little backwards?" She grinned.

"What do you mean?"

"Aren't you supposed to at least kiss me before you ask me to marry you?"

"Of course. How silly of me." Jane looked amused. She went to try and kiss her but pain shot through her when she shifted. "I can't seem to make it up there…"

"So, I'll go down there." Maura stood up and then leaned over the bed. Her face hovered over Jane's before she slowly closed the distance between them. She thought she was going in for a chaste kiss but changed her mind as soon as she felt how amazing it was to kiss her.

Jane decided to deepen the kiss by running her tongue along Maura's bottom lip, asking for entrance. Maura eagerly obliged and sent her tongue out to meet Maura's. She stroked the brunettes tongue with her won, fighting back the moan that so desperately wanted to escape. Jane didn't have enough strength to keep her's back so she let out a soft aching moan.

Maura brought her hand up from Jane's and stroked her face. She memorized the feel of her skin and the geography of her neck. Her heart ached as her fingers glided along raised skin, bearing evidence of Hoyt's scalpel. She wanted to erase those and any other bad memories Jane might have and fill them with nothing but good.

As much as Jane wanted to do nothing but kiss Maura for the rest of her life she needed to breathe. She broke away from the kiss and brought her hand up to stroke Maura's hair.

"You are my best friend and my constant companion. You have no idea how happy you would make me to allow me to spend the rest of my life with you because it's you that makes life worth living." She pulled her other hand out from under the blanket. "Maura Isles, will you please marry me and be my best friend and constant companion for the rest of our lives?" She brought a circular object in between them as she held Maura's other hand, ready to put the object on her finger.

Tears appeared at the edges of Maura's eyes. "Yes! Yes, I will marry you Jane Rizzoli!"

Jane could hardly contain her excitement as shaky hands tried to maneuver the object onto the ring finger of Maura's left hand.

Maura looked down. "What's this?"

"It's a twist tie. I asked the nurse for it earlier."

"Oh my…" Maura put her free hand on her chest. "Jane, you planned to propose to me this whole time?"

"Not really… but I wanted to be prepared just in case I did. And I did." She could hardly believe it herself. She was getting married. "I guess we better tell the others the news."

Maura nodded her head and held onto the hand that had just given her a 'ring'. "Let me just kiss you again." She whispered as she bent down again.

Jane had no objections as she leaned up to meet Maura's lips in a passionate, loving kiss. She couldn't believe she could do that whenever she wanted to now. They stayed like that for a few moments longer before breaking away.

"I guess I should tell them."

"I guess you should."

Maura didn't really want to leave but she knew it was only going to be for a little while. She opened the door and walked out into the hallway but then turned back around and blew Jane a kiss before closing the door.

She reentered Frankie's room.

"So how is she? Is she awake?"

"Yes." Maura said rather dreamily. Her demeanor changed dramatically from when she was in there last and they noticed.

"Oh my god!" Angela noticed it first. She got up and took Maura's left hand to closer inspect the new item decorating the doctor's hand. "Is this what I think it is?"

"It's a twist tie, Ma. What's so special about a twist tie?" Frankie observed from his bed.

"Why else would Maura have one on her ring finger, Frankie?" Angela turned back to Maura. "So did she-?"

"Yes… Jane asked me to marry her and I said yes." Maura was feeling a little overwhelmed by it all but she knew that such occasions were rare and that she could go back to Jane soon.

Angela squealed with delight. "I knew it! Oh, congratulations sweetie!" She wrapped Maura in a hug. Maura accepted congratulations from the other three as well.

After getting the okay to leave Frankie for the time being, they all went over to Jane's room to tell her it was about time she proposed.


End file.
